


The First Enemy of Many

by halbstunde



Series: The Acts of Time [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, Magic, Magical Stiles Stilinski, POV First Person, Stile's life is hard, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-08
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-15 00:07:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1283875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halbstunde/pseuds/halbstunde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I open my eyes to see a face I haven’t seen in years, looking at me like it was expecting an answer to a question I hadn’t heard. I opened my mouth to say something, anything to get him to talk so I can hear his voice at least once, but something stops me. I’m not really sure what exactly stops me, but it was either the horrible crushing sensation that I’ve got around my organs, as if I was being compressed in a slowly shrinking box, or the intense, unending pounding in my head</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lying Is So Much Easier When Magic Isn’t Involved

I open my eyes to see a face I haven’t seen in years, looking at me like it was expecting an answer to a question I hadn’t heard. I opened my mouth to say something, anything to get him to talk so I can hear his voice at least once, but something stops me. I’m not really sure what exactly stops me, but it was either the horrible crushing sensation that I’ve got around my organs, as if I was being compressed in a slowly shrinking box, or the intense, unending pounding in my head. HOLY FUCK this is awful, I’ve got no clue how to stop it, it just keeps getting worse and worse, my eyes are losing focus, the room is spinning, the floor is jumping up to smack me in the head-wait no I fell over, oh and there goes consciousness.

 

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*  

“...saying ‘Merlin…”

“...like the…”

“...no clue.”

Uhhh…what’s going on, I’m not really sure what that-oh yeah. Time travel. The Past. Where I currently am. Or when I currently am? Whatever doesn't matter. Time for assessing the situation. First thing, I’m not dead. Always a plus and always a surprise. Second off, wow can I get some Ibuprofen or werewolf pain-be-gone because FUCK my this hurts. What the actual hell Merlin, when you said squashed by a boulder you could've mentioned that that was the understatement of the fucking century and that it last more than like 5 seconds of pain. This definitely should’ve been in bold fucking print. I swear I’m gonna work out actual time travel, find your sorry ass and punch you in the face repeatedly because fuck, this is annoying. The pain had dulled down from the first moment but still I have an overall throbbing pretty much everywhere. The pain decline probably means soul/future consciousness/mystical being settled? Merlin had theorized that the pain was induced by the sudden influx of information shifted into the body, along with the change in physique and younger sensory organs overloading the brain with sharper details. Again. Doesn't matter. Okay well this one might, what if I have to travel back again, even with knowledge of the future this time around? No no, it won’t matter either way beca- supposed to be assessing. Alright, next I’m laying down. On a...bed? Nice, beds rule. The voices stopped, before I was awake enough to recognize them, but seeing as I saw my dad before getting full body slammed by time travel consequences, he was probably one of them. Maybe the other was Scott? Or Jackson? Was I friends with Jackson? I remember us getting close after reuniting in England before he died. Probably not Derek, I think I accused him of murder, probably still sore about that in the past. Or present? Since I can’t go forward this is probably present now. But since I’ve already lived it it’s past right? Present sounds fine I gu-

Okaaay next order of business: How am I going to deal with being future Stiles? Lie, pretend to be the lovable, token human? Reveal my bad ass Future Status and kick ass all around town? Just leave town all together and search out the certain future threats and kill them before they have the chance to kill someone I know? This is the kind of dilemma that lists pros and cons were made for.

 

Pros for Lying

  * Keeps me under the radar

  * No one questions about my loyalty changing in the future



  * No one hassles me about future knowledge

  * Everyone gets to live in blissful ignorance of the potential shitty future

  * I won’t turn into the tech support friend who knows like five things about computers so everyone calls him to come and do tech support, just with magic




 

Cons for Lying

  * Lying is bad

  * I hate lying

  * Lying causes a fuck ton of problems

  * No one will know how bad ass I am and I will remain under appreciated

  * If there’s an issue, no one will tell me about it and I won’t find out until Scott mentions it in passing or something

  * Moving around to get things done with magic will pose more of a challenge




 

As if I’d even bother making a list for leaving. Fuck no. That was a mistake the first time that will not be repeated. But this list. Both sides have advantages. I can see this working out either way and it’s a tough call. I go over the list again and again and sadly, I think lying will probably be my best bet here. With Derek being as distrustful as he is, a future version of someone he already doesn’t trust more than to not shoot him probably won’t sit well with him, and Derek’s trust is a key factor for success. Not that him finding out I was lying about being from the future the whole time will build trust. He probably doesn’t even know me well enough right now to tell the difference between a sixteen- and fifty-year-old Stiles anyways. And hey, at least I’m already good at lying, right? I know I won’t be able to hide it from everyone forever, but I’m not asking for forever. I just need a long enough to convince everyone I’m on their side.

I open my eyes and look around. I’m in my room, the time of it’s prime. Not the future version where things of value were looted, the walls either graffitied or crumbling. As I look around, everything has this weird sharpness to it, all of the surroundings way more crisp than I’m used to seeing them. Oh, the sensory overload, this is where that came from. I could see how this would’ve cause intense pain, this is already a lot to take in just using sight. Was blue really ever this _blue_? There’s so many different shades, I can even read the smaller print of a book on my desk across the room. My vision was going at such a slow rate I hadn’t even noticed how shitty it actually was. Hell I probably won’t need reading glasses anymore! I could spend an hour just looking at things. Think of all the damage I can do with youth back on my side. Sensory observation will have to wait though, I have business to get to.

Step 1: Convince Dad I’m not older than him on the inside.

Step 2: Do that with everyone else.

Keep the plan simple and easy to follow.

I exit my room and am greeted by a brightly lit hallway with intact photos hanging on the wall like a family is actually living here. Well okay there is one now but like five minutes ago (how long was I out anyways?) I was in the broken shell of my childhood home and I’m a little surprised at the change. After looking at a couple photos I had be certain I’d never see again(Scott and I as kids, my parents’ wedding), I went on down the stairs. Immediately I’m assaulted by an wonderful smell. Is that coffee? Holy shit that smells amazing, did coffee always smell this amazing? Oh yeah I can smell again, this’ll take some getting used to. Jeez, how old was I getting? This must’ve been what becoming a werewolf was like for Scott, my old senses seemed dulled in comparison to my youth’s.

Dad is sitting at the table with a newspaper in one hand, a mug in the other. He looks better than I remember. Probably because this is a time when he wasn’t aware of werewolves. As I walk closer, he looks up from the paper and gives me a look. Oh do I remember this look, and not in a good way. That’s his I-will-get-to-the-bottom-of-this look. No fear though, not like I haven’t bested The Look before. My sheer force of will against this look is what kept the secret about werewolves from my dad for so long. If I could’ve handled it when I was sixteen, I can handle it when I’m fifty, no problem.

“I’m sure you’d like to explain what you were doing last night and what caused you to promptly faint when I tried to ask you last night.” Whoa, straight to business, but his voice. My muddled memory of it did it no justice. It was wonderful to hear it again, after all these years being certain I never would. It dawns on me now that this is going to be hard. I don’t know these people anymore. Hell, half of them died before I was thirty. I’m in near tears talking to my father and he’s trying to scold me for some insignificant thing I’d done that was probably dangerous, how the hell am I going to handle being in an entire room full of people I’d considered lost forever? I’m way over my head and it’s been like ten freaking minutes.

If only I knew what I did last night. I want to keep my dad talking but this look usually came with the “He talks first no matter what" strategy and I've got no clue what to say. It’s been a few years, I was lucky enough to even remember I drew the time travel rune on me this young, hell even that could’ve been a fake memory created out of purely wishful thinking and a blurry account of the past. So no clue what was going on last night and probably not the past month. What season is it anyways? I know Scott got bitten in the last… six months? Maybe it was just a few months ago? And did he say last night? Was I really knocked out all night? Must’ve taken a all the energy from the items I had and then some of my own to get back this far in time... I was probably doing something with Scott and if our stories don’t match up, that’ll cause issues. I guess I can say I was spending too much time playing video games and not enough time eating, the video game part is my best shot at being true, but the eating thing may be way too hopeful. I’m a teenage boy, I’m not gonna forget about eating. Here goes nothing.

“I was time traveling about thirty years into the past.” Uhhhh okay. Not _really_ what I wanted to say. I didn’t even have that in my train of thought. The cat’s outta the bag, so much for the lying, but what they hell, I can usually keep a secret a little long than two seconds. So what the actual fuck just happened?

I’m wracking my brains for what could’ve made me let the cat out of the bag when I focus

in on my dad looking pretty freakin’ mad. And a little disappointed, which ouch. I might be fifty but disappointed parent looks still hurt. I guess this is kinda called for though, if my teenaged son had given me something that was obviously a pathetic attempt to make a story crazy enough to distract me when we needed to discuss something that could’ve been potentially harmful, I would’ve given him the same look, but back to the matter at hand. I still don’t know what I did last night and I just told Dad I’m from the future. Again, what’s up with that? Unless… Oh shit. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. Fuck.

I really should’ve paid attention to Merlin’s stupid fucking journal.

 

  



	2. Apparently I have a Book to Reread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I think I've decided to try and update on Fridays! This chapter was tough to write, and kinda sad too. Warning in the notes at the end! Also, Stiles age will be given instead of specific dates so there's a sense of time. You'll see what I mean.

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*

Age 23

We needed to be gone like five minutes ago, but leaving is impossible now. The others are trying to give us time to escape but we can’t go any further. The best defense I can set up right here and now is a mountain ash circle and those have theirs flaws. Mostly projectiles are what fall under the list of mountain ash’s shortcomings and there’s plenty of those just laying around if you simply get a bit creative. The blood is flowing too quickly and I don’t know how to stop it. You’d think being a human would prompt me to learn some kind of emergency first aid, but I didn’t and God do I regret it now. I close my eyes, take a few deep breathes, open them again.

“It’ll be fine.” My voice is a hoarse whisper, I think I heard it crack when I said fine. It doesn’t matter, the words are empty. I’m just looking for something to say, anything really. Whatever it is that attacked us will either be killed or after us any moment but we won’t separate now, not in these last moments.

“I want you to make a deal with me,” his voice is quiet, barely audible. The red from the blood had stained my hands, but I take one of his in mine anyways. “One of your weird magic deals.” my mouth twitches upward at that. Let it be known, even in the final hour, my magic would always be weird but I’d always be the same Stiles.

“What did you have in mind?” I play along with whatever it is he’s going for, anything to get my mind off the dark red that was beginning to pool on the ground.

“Once we aren’t being chased by whatever it is that attacked us, I never want to hear a lie from you again.” He had a playful smile on his face and that was such an obvious thing for him to ask for. I tried to smile back. Whether it looked more grimace than smile, I don’t know.

“You know I’d never make a deal like that with someone for free, right?”

“Ha, you’re right. What do you want for it?” What did I want? This deal is pretty hefty, I could ask for som- wait. This isn’t a serious deal, just a light conversation to pretend we’ll both live long enough for the it to come into effect. The obvious inevitable is right in front of them, making the ground warm, dark, and sticky. So I play along.

“No more than three glasses of booze a night.” His smile gets bigger at that, and I think mine might be leaning more towards smile instead of grimace now.

“Sounds fair. Deal?”

“Deal.”

A purple light began to shine between our clasped hands, shining from each spot that our hands met. For a moment our faces were washed over with the light and then it faded and night was back. The smiles we had faded with the light of our promise for the future.

“I love you, Stiles.” His voice is barely a whisper now, he had=s tears falling freely from his eyes. Each breath he takes is labored and ragged.

“I love you too, Dad.” My own voice cracks, tears streaking my face. He has a faint smile on his face only briefly, then his eyes fell shut.

A few moments later I hear my dad take his last breath. The silence that follows is an all consuming roar. If the circumstance wasn’t life and death, I would’ve sat there in the deafening silence for hours, but it is life and death. So I run, not knowing that that was the last time I’d ever see my father, dead or alive.

 

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*

 

I swear this time traveling thing is way harder than Merlin made it seem. How could I have even forgotten about this deal, it was literally the last thing Dad and I talked about before he died. Was time really this hard on my memory? Dad died twenty-six years ago( or like negative five or so since it supposedly happens in the future? How old am I right now? First thing I’m changing in the past is getting us a freaking calendar in the kitchen), but when did his words stop haunting me every time I closed my eyes? When did I forget this dying promise?

All this time I’m staring at Dad and haven’t spoken a word. He’s still glaring at me. Oh god I think the disappointment emanating from him has taken physical form and punched me in the gut. What do I say though? I can’t lie to him, the best I could do is bend the truth, except I really don’t think time travel is a very flexible truth right now. Magic deals suck like that. You can use loopholes easily, you just have to find one. Or break the deal. Which I cannot do without my dad’s consent or face a ridiculous amount of magical backlash. The backlash is what makes the deal so binding; it hurts like hell and doesn’t go away for a few days. That makes witches and the like way less eager to make deals, but also makes the deals immensely more valuable. A deal with two magic users is the safest bet because both parties are at risk if they break it. Deals between those influenced by magic are okay, they’ll feel a pretty sharp backlash but not as intense as a magic users. Still inconvenient and painful, but easy enough to deal with. A deal with a human though? Stupid to make. All they get is a strong aversion to breaking it. It just takes a good amount of will power and the deal is broken. Still, deals are rarely broken because once you break your word with a magic user, any deal you make with them afterwards is void, no matter how much magical light you make or promises you say. They’ll receive no backlash if they break the new deal with you.

Maybe I could trick Dad into breaking it. I just need a verbal agreement and the deal is done, and if he doesn’t believe me, it’s easy because he’ll agree to breaking it just so I’ll start talking about the previous night, which I then could start lying about.

“It’s the truth. I make a magical deal with you in the future so I can’t lie to you without serious repercussions. You’re welcome to break it if you want, all you have to say is ‘feel free to lie again’ and no more future nonsense out of me.” I really hope this doesn’t sound as childish to Dad as it does to me. Maybe if it sounds childish he’ll play along.

“Alright, since you’re apparently obligated to tell the truth, why don’t we start with why you thought it was a good idea to search for a dead body in the woods last night.” The Glare of Disappointment is in full force. Not the direction he would take after I told him that. Wait, did he say dead body in the woods? Okay, I’ve searched for a body in the woods exactly three times in my life. The first time was when I was sixteen and Scott got bit by a werewolf. The other two times were when I was in my twenties and-huh, Scott got bit by werewolves those times too, that’s weird. Anyways, the only time I was searching for a dead body when my father was alive was when I was sixteen. Which means I’m way further back than I thought. I’m at the very start of the mess I’ve got to clean up. Never have I ever been so thankful that I am easily absorbed into the abyss of information that is the internet.

“I don’t know, I was sixteen and stupid. In the heat of the moment, finding half a dead body before the cops did sounded pretty fun. I sure as hell regret the mess it gets us in, but let the record stand that a severe asthmatic found the other half of Laura before the Beacon Hills Police Department.”  Dad was jokingly testing this honesty pact I, from his perspective, made up out of nothing. Little did he know that it was real and that truth telling and running my mouth were not a good combination. For me at least. This is a jackpot for him. Fuck, if I had known this was going to blow up in my face like this I would’ve said no punishing me for whatever truth I let slip. Okay, not true, I’m pretty sure my dad’s liver takes a beating from the werewolf business. Too late to worry about it now anyways.

“So you’re telling me Scott _was_ there last night?” Fuck. Sorry buddy, I think I just threw you under the bus. He can’t be too mad, it’s been like thirty years since then, the details are fuzzy.

“Uhhh…”

“And who’s Laura and why do you think that’s the name of whoever’s body is out in the woods?” Oh shit, did they not know it was Laura? Ohhhh yeah that’s right, they have the bottom half while Scott found the top. Wait, didn’t we find her buried next to the Hale House? Fuck, no hope with being normal, sixteen-year-old Stiles now. Not with Dad at least.

“I’m not really sure I should answer, you know how time travel ca-” I start, but I’m cut off by Dad.

“Enough with the time travel bullshit Stiles, this is serious. Someone has been not only murdered, but grotesquely sliced in half. Now you’re going to call Scott and he’s going to take me to where he supposedly found the body and then you two are going to keep your noses out of police business.” Yeah, that’s not going to work out. I’ve got to keep the chain of events as similar as possible so I can still predict what’s going to happen. I don’t want to do this flying blind a second time.

“If I prove to you that I’m from the fut-”

“STILES! Cut it out, don’t you get how serious this is?! Someone was murdered horrifically and no matter how animalistic it looks, no part of the body that was found was eaten, and animals won’t drag a body cut in half body to a trail just so it can be found by joggers.” Jeez, I know my story is kind of ridiculous but if I had continued this long Dad should’ve either considered I was telling the truth or I thought I was telling the truth and needed pyschological help. Right?

“I get it, I do, so if you’d just list-”

“For God’s sake Stiles, drop with the stupid story this is-” Serious, yeah I know. After seeing that just talking about it won’t be the way to him understanding, I’m going to make the executive decision to just prove it by briefly lighting the newspaper in Dad’s hand on fire with a ball of fire I summoned in my palm, then putting it out when he dropped it in surprise. I sit down in the chair next to Dad who is stunned into silence and meet his shocked eyes.

“I’m from the future. In the future I’ve learned magic. I understand exactly how serious this is because the only reason I came back into the past was because literally everyone I cared about was dead. Everyone. I was alone and too many innocent people were dying. I’ve come back to minimize losses as best I can and save my family. I literally cannot lie to you unless you agree to break our deal, so I’ll need your help. This is your last chance to back out. You can let me lie to you and you can let me do the work myself. With or without you, I’m going to save as many of the people I care about that I can.”

Dad stayed silent and wide-eyed. Slowly, his expression became resolved. When he spoke, his voice was strong and certain, nothing like the last time I saw him. “No way in Hell are you doing this alone.”

For the first time in more than half a year, I didn’t have to fight alone. I hadn’t realized I missed having someone to fight with and to fight for until I felt wetness on my cheeks and my mouth turn up into a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Death of a main character. I didn't tag it because technically he isn't dead yet because of the whole time travel thing. There'll be more like these I think in upcoming chapters.


	3. You'd Cry Too If All Your Friends Suddenly Weren't Dead

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t expecting that. Who would though? Spontaneous combustion really hadn’t played a big part in my life up until now. I didn’t even get to read the sports section before it turned to ashes. The fact that fire started in the palm of my son’s hand? Not expecting that either. Honestly, all I wanted out of this morning was to try and scare him out of going to crime scenes and maybe give up Scott for being with him last night. The bullshit about time travel? It was such a pathetic excuse that it was like Stiles wasn’t even trying to get out of trouble, which was extremely out of character for him. His insistence on the matter was what made it worse, there was no way anyone would believe that. Hell I can’t even believe I believe it still. His “proof” that he was from the future was pretty ambiguous. Sure, I think he’s got some weird magic going on, anyone with eyes could see that, but that doesn’t exactly mean he’s from the future.

I still wouldn’t believe it right now, except he really does seem different. He had looked me dead in the eye and what I saw when I looked back was my wife, just before she died, demanding I take care of Stiles, no matter what. He spoke with a conviction and maturity I’d never heard from him, the kind that can only come from age and experience.

So yeah, I do believe this is an older version of my son, but my son nonetheless. How much older, I’m not sure. Since he blurted thirty years, I can only assume he’s about late forties, early fifties. Possibly older than me. He’s definitely changed, that I can say for sure. I just hope it’s a good change.

 

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*

That was… surprisingly easy. Were things this easy when I was sixteen? Dad just kinda went with the future thing pretty quickly. I mean, me doing the whole fireball show is always pretty convincing, but it doesn’t exactly say “future” you know? Whatever, it’ll do for now. I apparently have school this morning. Which means I’m going to see more people who I’ve seen die. Great. Holding back the waterfalls was hard enough with just Dad.

Wait no, this is fantastic!! Mostly because they’re no longer dead! One day I’ll stop needing to be reminded of that, but for now I guess it’ll just be an ongoing, fun surprise.

I take a step outside and I’m about to cry. Again. Powder blue and beautiful, the Jeep sat in the driveway in all her glory. Last I’d seen her, she was on fire with a Griffin locked inside. Her sacrifice was great, but necessary. But shes back with me now, and not a scratch on her that had to do with werewolves or the supernatural! Sliding into the driver seat, nostalgia swamps me. Look, over there is the spot where Derek bled on the seat! And the spot where Isaac ripped the seat belt trying to keep from clawing Scotts face off for something stupid he’s said! Oh how I’ve missed her, my darling Jeep. Never again will she suffer at the hands of overzealous werewolves and their control issues.

I start the car (“Stiles you need your backpack” “Oh yeah, thanks Dad”) and drive to school. The entire way there, I don’t see a single dead body and only like four pieces of litter. How had my life in the future become so awful that that was what qualified as a good day? Whatever, I’ll take it.

I’m still so excited from talking to my dad and being reunited with the Jeep that I don’t realize how tired I am until I let loose a loud yawn. Holy hell I’m tired. I knew this time travel thing was taxing, but maybe it would’ve been better to convince Dad I’m from the future in a less energy-using way. It isn’t even that making fire requires a lot of power per se, but without the runes somewhere on my person, it can take its toll. That’s definitely going to change soon, once I find a guy for tattoos, but for now I should probably keep the magic flaunting to a minimum. I can still use the ability amplifier I used to fight that alpha in the future(previously?) because it doesn’t require the magic to leave my body and keeps it in its simplest form, energy, which can be directly used as basically steroids, except way better.

 

Moving on from somewhat distant future plans to near future plans, The New Objectives list:

  * Step 1: ~~Convince Dad I’m not older than him on the inside.~~ Make Dad my well-informed ally

  * Step 2: Don't slip up with everyone like you did with Dad 

  * Step 3: Don’t use complicated magic




Still simple and easy to follow. Just because one thing didn’t go as planned, doesn’t mean everything else won’t. Get to school, follow the plan, fuck shit up. That’s all I’ve got to do, and everyone lives.

Once I pull into the parking lot, I get out of the car, walk up to the entrance, walk back to the Jeep, get my backpack, then finally enter the building. I can’t say I really remember much from high school (Violent supernatural attacks were taking up my focus, okay? Cut a guy some slack, I’m fifty, it was a long time ago, more important things were taking up my focus). By much, I don’t even remember where my locker is. Why is this school so big? This is ridiculous. Fine, just find Scott, he can be my guiding light in the fog of my memories. I bet I can get away with asking questions with obvious answers if I camouflage them with other stuff like… uhhh… what did I even talk about before I knew about werewolves? Even with nothing life-threatening going on, we still kept talking about the supernatural like people talked about their hobbies. What new magic trick Lydia dug up, a new fighting tactic that was inspired from a previous night’s training. Our lives had pretty much revolved around magic and the like since high school and it’s never really wavered too much. No, no it’ll be fine Stiles, just go off whatever Scott says, it’ll be fine He’s your guiding light, let him guide you.

After walking around for about five minutes, trying to look like I have somewhere to go, I find Scott, and oh God the crying feeling is back, fuck. He just looks so… so cute. Like, he still has baby fat on his cheeks, what the hell. He’s shorter than me, has dimples, and is adorable as fuck. Why is my vision blurring I need to see how cute Teen Scott is- oh wait those are tears blurring my vision, that needs to stop right now. I wonder if he’d be weirded out if I hugged him, last night was probably pretty scary for him, he found a dead body which is spooky stuff, I bet I could justify it.

I reach Scott and before I can even say ‘Glad to see you not dead!’ he rushes out “Dude, you’ll never guess what happened last night after your Dad caught you.” I know exactly what happened last night Scott.Time travel, that’s whatt. Any old nobody can find a body in the woods, but going thirty years into the past? That takes real skill. “Come here, check this out.” He looks around nervously, apparently sees no one paying particular attention to us, then lifts his shirt to reveal a bandage covering his side.

“Whoa, what the hell happened?” You idiot, why did you have to listen to me and go out into the woods? You look like a freaking chew toy. Is that blood seeping through the bandage? Gross, put it away Scott, this isn’t proper school behavior. Why did you ever bother listening to me after I got you bit by a freaking werewolf?

“I think I got attacked by some kind of wolf last night ‘cause I heard howling and the thing ran at me on all fours.” Close Scott, but no cigar.  Wolf? No. Wolves haven’t been in California for years, but you’re right about the “some kind” because Beacon Hills is just now beginning its werewolf infestation problem. What should I even say to Scott about this? Call him ridiculous for even thinking wolf, or just flat out tell him he’s probably a werewolf now and get him a head start on controlling wolfy urges? Maybe just give him a comforting hug purely meant for him and has nothing to do with me not having seen him alive for several years? No no, that’ll have to wait. Best go the safe route. Keeping him ignorant to make sure the time line stays the same sucks, partly because I don’t want to lie to Scott and partly because Scott doesn’t deserve to go through the first full moon confused as hell about becoming a werewolf, but I have to make sure my future information stays accurate so I can for sure stop any life threatening situations.

“Probably not, there hasn’t been any wolves in California for years.” I gave him a condescending look that I’m hoping comes off as ‘you’re an idiot’. You’re pretty much right on the money with this one buddy, but you’ve got to wait to know that..  

“Okay, must’ve been a mountain lion I guess… But!! You’ll never believe it, but I found the other half of the body!” I give Scott my best ‘surprised and impressed’ face. He found the body without wolfy senses, he’s already better than the police dogs at the BHPD. I’m about to say something congratulatory when a flash of strawberry blonde catches my eye, and my heart about stops.

Walking down the hallways with confidence and grace, Miss Martin you are as beautiful as ever. I haven’t seen her in about two months, since the night she died. Scott will have to excuse me for staring, but Lydia looks a little different than when she was fifty and I’m trying to control myself from bursting into tears. I raise my hand in a wave and say “Yo Lyds,” and sue me if I am smiling even more than I was when I saw Scott or Dad. Lydia was my oldest friend, us being the longest surviving out of the pack. She knew me better than anyone and once I lost her I was finally, entirely alone. It’s all in the past (Nonexistant future?) now though. I look until I realize it’s been a few seconds past creepy and take notice to the figure next to her.

It just so happens to be Jackson, and would you look at that, it’s like baby fat is contagious. Aww, he was cute too as a teenager. Why does he look so upset with me? Jeez take a chill pill, you’ll get your hello too.

“Jackson.” Jackson gets a head nod instead of a wave because no matter how old he got, he was “Not going to do that childish shit, Stiles.” It was Jackson’s issue if he didn’t want waves, high fives, fist bumps, hugs, or whatever other kind of friendly greetings were out there, not mine.  

I’ve got to turn back to Scott who is probably upset because I wasn’t paying attention to his awesome body-finding story. Sorry Scott, heard it already and honestly I stopped being impressed when you found your third body. Stop someone from becoming a dead body, then we’ll talk.

But Instead of some look of ignored, sad puppy I expect, Scotts looking at me like I’m sick or dying or something at least life changing and asks “Dude, are you feeling alright?”

Well Scott, I was doing great until you asked me that. Did I do something different that present day Stiles wouldn’t do? Have I seriously already given myself away again? How good of a friend was Scott, I’ve said like two sentences to him and he already can tell something’s up. Merlin seriously understated the difficulty of time travel in his stupid journal.


	4. High School Is Fun For About Five Minutes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about no chapter last week! I'll try to get a second one out this weekend to make up for it!

“Just peachy Scott, what could possibly be wrong?” Not a rhetorical question Scott, I need to fix this so you and everyone else can be blissfully ignorant of my non-present origins.

“Dude, that was Lydia.” That really isn’t an explanation Scott. Little more info would be helpful.

“Yeah, she goes to this school, it isn’t really a huge surprise she’s here.”

“Okay, but that was Lydia, Stiles. You kinda just said hello to her and Jackson like you do it every day and then remembered I was still talking to you.” The fuck does that mean Scott? Am I supposed to give them am update on my life while they pass? I'm pretty sure there's not time for that kind of meet-and-greet.

“Uh yeah, we’re friends and I tend to say hello friends. And you found a dead freaking body in the woods, that's pretty attention grabbing.”  

“You and Jackson hate each other and Lydia probably doesn’t even know you exist even though you been obsessed with her since like elementary school. You guys are definitely not friends.” Ouch, harsh Scott. Some sugar coating on that would've been great.

Okay, I see what the problem is. Apparently I’m in love/obsessed with Lydia? Was I ever in love with her? I mean, for years we’ve been close friends and allies. I don’t even remember seeing her as something other than a sister, but again, thirty years ago. Don’t really remember the specifics. Life threatening stuff, yeah, sure I’ve got that down. Crushes and high school drama? Not important. Also, why am I not friends with Jackson?  I remember not being very close to him until we reunited in the UK, but us hating each other? That’s hard to believe. But if Scott says that's how it is, I guess that's how it is. He'd be the one to know me best, so I can't really argue with him.

“Oh, uh, yeah I’m just really tired from last night. The adrenalin from it all kept me up.” More like magical exhaustion because time travel is no fucking parlor trick, okay? I swear, everyone better be really impressed if I manage to fuck this up and let it out that I’m from the future. Not impressed that I fucked up, but impressed with the fact - Point is, I better get some high fives for this time travel crap.

“Dude! That reminds me! My mom said last night your dad called her because you had just passed out and wouldn’t wake up. She said it was just exhaustion but he had her come over before her shift this morning anyways just to be sure.” That solves the mystery of who Dad was talking to this morning. Man, I haven’t seen Melissa in years. Dad had died before anything concrete happened, but anyone with eyes could see the budding romance between the two. Good thing everything will be different this time around, those two deserve a chance to be happy together and well, not dead. 

“Exactly, extremely tired last night and passed out which is why I’m not thinking straight and calling Jackson and I bros and not talking about Lydia’s-” Oh god what did I used to say about Lydia, shit think of something Stiles “...nice hair.” Yeah, yeah that's good. The hair does look nice, but her with short hair was way more practical, and in our lives, practicality was the go-to fashion choice.

Scott's still giving me a weird look, like he has something to say but then the bell is ringing and we’ve got to get to class. I kinda just follow Scott hoping we have class together. We do! Thank god, I seriously have no idea what my schedule is. I also forgot to find my locker, but what’s the chance of remembering my combination? Zero, that’s what the chance is. It's a lost cause. So off to class we go.

I sit near Scott in the classroom and start shuffling through my bag. I find a… planner? When did I ever write things down for school? Whatever, I flip through it (beyond the first two weeks of school it’s pretty bare so I’m going to assume it was a new school year resolution to do better) and behind the cover is a copy of my schedule, with my locker number plus combination. Good thing I never throw any papers out until it gets totally unmanageable because Scott may not be the most perceptive, but not knowing classes and my locker would be a definite heads up. 

I hear the door to the class room open, look up, and there’s a nervous looking brunette at the front of the class. Not just any brunette though. Allison Argent, future matriarch to the Argent family, still looking so hopeful and innocent. It's such a weird look for her, she had some serious, life changing events happen relativly quickly after we met so I'm not used to her looking so... teenager-ish. Allison died way to early, pretty close to Erica and Boyd’s deaths. I’ve got mixed feelings about her though. At times she was extremely helpful to the pack, but at others she was detrimental. Her being manipulated by Gerard wasn’t great either, but her mom taking her own life in order to not be a werewolf made her an easy target for his manipulation. Which means I’ll have to save Victoria to prevent that, doesn’t it? Shit, that sucks. I mean, I  didn’t _really_ know Victoria that well before she died but what I did know is that she tried to murder Scott. Which. Kinda a shitty thing to do just because he was sleeping with your daughter. Hey, maybe I can skip the werewolf surprise with Allison and just flat out tell her about the upcoming werewolf issues. If I’m the first one to tell her about werewolves, she’ll likely trust me for not deceiving her like her father had, which would be a huge advantage for me. No no I’m getting ahead of myself, Scott doesn’t even know he’s a werewolf yet. If anything though, I should steal some of the Argents' firearms, wolfsbane, and bows and arrows. My dad may know I’m from the future, but I don’t think the police department will understand why a minor needs to purchase firearms to carry around, so secretly obtaining my own would be the best route. Plus, it’ll piss off Argent that I stole his stuff and if there’s anything that’s a constant, no matter when you are, it’s that being sneaky enough to trick Chris is always hilarious once he finds out you pulled on over his head. Seriously, that guy can get beyond furious. It's like going into your older sibling's room and taking some of their stuff. Your sibling isn't going to murder you over that offense, but there'll probably be backlash for it. But as long as it works out in Chris's favor, he’s likely not to gut you on the spot. Not that he’ll know it’s working out in his favor, but hey I’ll have guns already so I won’t need to ask him for any after he's pissed and he probably can't kill me.

By now, Allison has sat down and Scott is handing off a pen and giving her his lovestruck look that I know for a fact does not go away until Allison is dead. Believe me, even if he’s a hopeless idiot in love who only talks about Allison, it’ll always be preferable to how her death changed him. Class begins and I ready myself to integrate back into a high school lifestyle.

...

...

Okay, it's been a fun couple of minutes back in school, but this is seriously one of the most boring things I've done in my life. And I've done stake outs. Stake outs which end up being fruitless and a waste of time. Stake outs with no food except for freaking rice cakes. Stake outs with Derek on the full moon. Stake outs suck is what I'm saying, but this is definitely worse. I decide to pull a notebook out (Chemistry, hah like I'll need notes for that) and devote it to writing down anything I can remember about magic and the supernatural. Why not start my own book, it'd be much easier than hunting down all the tomes and grimoires I'd come across in my life. My very own beastiary, way better than the Hale's or the Argent's. I should buy a couple journals specifically for this. Really cool leather bound ones that everyone expects to hold secrets and deep wisdom.

I just continue writing (Archaic Latin, I'd never want it to be too easy for anyone to read) until the bell rings. Scott and I don't have the next couple classes together, but as it turns out Lydia and I have chemistry together.  

I'm not really sure how to act like I'm infatuated with Lydia. Should I just stare at her? Try and talk to her? Scott says she doesn't know I exist so I don't know if she'd talk to me. Her not knowing I exist is going to have to change soon though, because I've learned over the years that Banshees are valuable assets, and Lydia Martin happens to be an extremely powerful one. Also, not telling her about the Lycanthropy thing kinda causes her to resurrect Peter, which is bad because Peter is a psychotic dick that I would like to stay dead once we kill him.(Third time's the charm, right?) Even if he does make a mean rotisserie chicken. Like the best I have ever had, beyond amazing. He just has to be sane enough to make it, but I can live without it (maybe) if it means I don't have to deal with all the crazy shit he causes. I'd already know all the information we kept him around for and then some anyways, so it isn't like we'd be missing a huge pack asset. 

Back to Lydia. I can feel her untapped magic from my seat. Once I began training with Deaton, it turned out I could feel all the magic floating around everywhere. Deaton had told me most creatures involved in the supernatural end up being able to detect magic at some level. I had asked Derek about him sensing it once and he told me as a werewolf, he could smell magic. Magic, to him, had an ozone scent to it. The stronger the smell the stronger the magic. For me, I get this buzzing on my skin whenever I'm near something with magical properties. Like with Lydia right now, I can feel a general buzzing all around the room, but if I focus directly on her the buzz gets stronger, and anything else gets tuned out. 

Pretty much everyone has magic in them to some degree, even if they go through their entire lives not using it once. I've got theories on magic influencing people, usually it increases intelligence or physical ability. In my entire life I've met three people who were 100% magic free. These people were awkward and just overall unpleasant. For example, Greenberg: awkward, bad at sports, smells a bit, and just gives off bad vibes in general. He also doesn't have an  ounce of magic in him. The other two I met were pretty much the same, if not a bit more rude. 

So Lydia needs to know I exist and she needs to do magic. Our magics are polar opposites, which more often than not, creates a huge advantage for us. Hers is more precognitive, post mordem, and intune with the earthy elements. Mine is more illusionary, decieving, and astronomical. We became a great team together and I seriously doubt I can save all our asses without her. Plus, over the years Lydia and I had come to understand each others magic almost completely, which makes teaching Lydia way easier than going in blind. (Learning magic by going in blind is one of the worst ways to learn it. I know, because that's pretty much exactly what we did.)

I wait for Harris to finish his lesson and give the rest of the hour to work independently, then approach Lydia's table with a smile. I open with a "Hey Lydia." and she looks up, just scrunches her eyes a bit at me, then goes back to work. What the hell, I don't even get a 'go away'? My smile falls into a scowl, when an idea comes to my head. I know Lydia knows Archaic Latin and I know she hates not knowing things, so why not tempt her? I grab my chemistry notebook (no new notes, I know that NaOH is a strong base Mr. Harris, I think I'll be fine), write down "At some point you will want to know what is going on. Feel free to ask when you want to know." in Latin, set the scrap on her desk, then go back to my desk. This definitely won't get me an immediate response, but it'll lay the foundation at least. There's no need to rush things just yet, and Lydia coming to me for help willingly is much better than me trying to force help on her.

I spend the rest of the day writing and planning until the final bell rings. I pack up my stuff to leave, but Scott finds me and says ridiculous things like "We have lacrosse practice," and "Allison is going to a party on Friday, should I go?" Honestly, lacrosse is going to probably be the first change in my life because it is seriously time consuming and I could spend it doing useful things like building endurance and muscle with magic, which I cannot do in a crowd of people. After this practice, I'll have to tell the coach I'm off the team due to a "serious reevaluation of my life priorities". 


End file.
